Conviction and Redemption
by LadyEzra
Summary: After the lockdown of Gotham city and deaths of Bane and Talia al Ghul, the rest of the involved are carted to prisons, including Ezra, a 16 year old girl with no name and a secret. The hyperkinetic is released as a foster child to the Stronghold family who sends her to Sky High with their 14 year old son. HUGE SPOLIERS FOR NEW BATMAN!
1. Prologue

**Hi Everyone! This is my very first story ever and I just want to get some feedback! **

**Pls Review and tell me if you'd be interested in me continuing this story and anything else you may want to tell me or know!**

**I know this belongs in crossover and i'll move it there, i just want to put it here first so that it will be read by someone.**

**Characters belong to DC comics and Disney respectively! Ezra is the only thing here that's mine! and some plot points of course.**

Will and Layla walked up to the UltraMax together, wondering why Wills parents could possibly need them there.

They had called after school asking Will to get off at the stop closest to Maxville's High-Security Penitentiary for Super Beings, called the UltraMax by the city's citizens and superheroes. He'd brought his girlfriend of 2 months, Layla, with him, in case it was about the Royal Pain incident at homecoming at the beginning of the school year.

They walked through the front doors and greeted Will's parents.

"Hello Layla," his mother began and turned back to will "We've decided to take on a foster daughter."

His eyes bugged and he stage whispered, "…and we're picking them up HERE?"

.

Josie and Steve Stronghold always had sort of wanted a daughter, but a convict from the UltraMax was not what they had in mind.

But when the National Superhero Council had told them about a certain prisoner, they knew they couldn't turn the council down.

They met the girl once before they agreed to finally take her on. She did not regret what she did, but the reasons why she did it are what made her worth trying to change. The NSC had decided that if anyone could turn the girls methods toward good, it was the Stronghold's.

.

Ezra sat in the plastic white chair, shackled hands on the plastic white table and stared at the plastic white automatic doors through which her new "parents" would stride through at any moment.

When the NSC had told her that she was getting out she didn't argue. She didn't like this place any more than the next guy. It was their reasoning that made her balk.

_"We want to send you to live with a family of Superheroes, to have you see what good you could do with your abilities." _

_ "I don't regret what I did, I love my father and I won't forsake him. I still believe in what we did." _

_ "We understand that, but we want you to be shown what you could do to help your… cause… without killing people."_

_ "I never killed anyone. I never do if I can avoid it."_


	2. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! Huge thanks to my two solitary reviewers! **

**Attach appropriate disclaimers where they belong visit the first chapter if you forgot. **

**Also, a reminder that if you have not yet seen **_**Dark Knight Rises **_**DO NOT READ THIS UNLESS YOU ARE OKAY WITH THE WHOLE ENDING BEING SPOILED! NO JOKE!**

**My other reminder is that I ask you to inform me immediately if she looks like a Mary Sue. I hate them and am terrified that I'll make one.**

**I'm also looking for a beta?**

**So yeah, hope you enjoy. **

**.**

_Ezra POV_

I look up from my hands as I hear the whirr of the automatic doors, and the _click, click, click, _of a woman's high heels. The woman I can only assume is my new foster mother is pretty and looking every bit the rich professional I assume she is.

Her husband on the other hand looks like a bit of a loser. Wearing the ugliest glasses I've ever seen in my life, and a nasty blue and red argyle vest.

"Hello Ezra," the lady turns to me first with a blinding smile, "I'm Josie Stronghold and this my husband Steve."

"Hi." Josie's face falters briefly at my reply before she asks the guards to get a key and unchain me. The man returns with a key in one hand and a large black duffle bag in the other. He drops the bag and I smile at the familiar sound of heavy combat boots hitting the floor.

He motions for me to stand and I move away from the table, the shackles between my legs scrape on the tile floor.

"The duffle bag has everything you came with in it." He tells me as I step free of the manacles toward the bag.

"Liar," I deadpan and he balks, I turn and smile without even opening the bag, "I bet it doesn't have my rifle in it." I turn back to the bag and open it up and the smell of sweat, leather and even the faint tang of dry blood hits my nose. "Where can I change?"

Josie and Steve Stronghold hold cropped expressions on their faces as I disappear into the room the guard pointed to.

I unzip the bag fully and replace my prison jumpsuit and sneakers with the familiar weight of my own clothes. Simple, only a grey tank and cargo pants, I pat the pockets, in one I find my heavy studded gloves, in another I find they've already put a syringe case, inside I know there are going to be several dosages. By closing my eyes I can nearly feel the weight of my gun and ammo belt on my body. _They won't like that. _I think as I lace on my boots and walk back into the main room, jacket in hand, I know what time of year it is, even if I haven't seen the natural sun in nearly a year.

Josie eyes my clothes with what could be described as disgust and wrinkles her nose as I get closer. I can't blame her, I smell pretty bad. A combination of not having showered since the night before and the fact that the clothes I now wear probably haven't been washed since I was… _admitted_ into the prison almost a year ago.

I stop in front of her and her husband and the automatic doors sense my feet and slide open with another hydraulic whirr. "I want to thank you for taking me in, and out of this place." I take a step back and out the open doors.

.

_Will POV_

The girl that walks through the door is nothing like what I expected. When my parents told me they were taking a convicted criminal in as a foster kid I had nearly died right there in the reception office of the prison. What were they thinking?! I was afraid momentarily that it might be Royal Pain again, but felt a bizarre relief when the door opened and I most certainly did not see the feminine face of Gwen Grayson, or whoever she was.

My first impression was that had she not had hair past her waist, she would have probably been mistaken for a man. and she dressed like one too, all combat boots and cargo pants.

She moved first to the front desk and patted one of her cargo pockets, talking to the lady briefly and receiving a folder. She smiled and turned back to my parents, who motioned to Layla and I. My dad was the first to speak.

"Ezra, this is our son, Will and his girlfriend Layla, they will be going to school with you." I give a smile and Layla smiles and waves a little, bubbly as ever.

"It's really nice to meet you!" She says. The girl gives us a dead-eyed half-smile and turns away from us. As she walks past us all and to the door I get a waft off of her. She smells like sweat and smoke and steel. Overall, she smells pretty bad.

She shrugs on the heavy leather jacket she had over her arm and pulls a pair of studded black gloves out of her pocket. My mom leads us all out to the family van and we pile in, opening all the windows to save us from the God-awful smell emanating from the middle row of seats.

You could say that the drive home was tense, but it would be a lie.

The drive home is so tense it feels like we're suspended in a fruitcake. Nobody can speak or move and every time one of us tries the silence is so thick we'd need a chainsaw to get through.

My Mom happens to be a superhero, though, with nerves of steel.

"So Ezra, is that all you have right now?"

"I suppose, I had some other stuff but the prison seemed to see fit that I never see it again. Like I'd need a rifle to kill someone." She turns her head out the window and the silence stretches like gun under a boot.

"Would you like to shop for more clothes? Just say the word." my mother pushes. Like I said, she's made of steel.

.

_Ezra POV_

I let a smile break over my face.

"I've never shopped before, and I guess the days are passed when I need only raid a surplus store to get what I need." _Maybe a mom wouldn't be too bad. "_When could we go?"

"Well, it's only four now, would you like to go tonight? Or get settled into your new bed?" When Josie smiles it reaches her eyes every time. Not a single other person in this car had shown me their eyes.

"Not tonight, but tomorrow? I smell bad and I'd kill for a decent shower and real soap. Prison soap even smells kind of bad." I hear a rustle from the back seats as my new "brother" and his girlfriend tense up at my words. _Do they even know who I am? Or what I did? _I didn't want to ask now, nor did I want to answer for myself.

I just wanted a damn shower.


	3. Chapter 2

**Oh my goodness it has been forever I am so sorry my pets!**

**I started college and it has been absolutely crazy, and then I lost all my files when I bumped my memory stick and the files became corrupted. I still have a folder on my stick that refuses to be deleted because it is so corrupted.**

**It's just there and is an endless loop of folders, its bizarre. Computers baffle me. **

**ANYWAY I'm really trying to get stuff up, I know you've waited a month, since then I have actually accumulated a decent number of followers, which is uber exciting. **

**I guess by now I can also go ahead and assume most people have seen the movie now. **

**/On with the show\\**

**.**

_Ezra POV_

For the first time in my life, I wake up and don't want to move. Being part of an underground quasi-militant faction, meant a lot of sleeping on concrete floors, surrounded by men. The prison, while slightly more comfortable, giving me a bed, still was horrible. And I hated every moment of being in that white, plastic room.

The bed the Strongholds had given me was positively luxurious. I could get used to the bed, if nothing else. When she said "get settled into your new bed" I didn't even imagine the plush island they were to give me.

I force my eyes open, in the dark of the early winter morning I peer at the blinking digital clock. _Only seven. Time for some medicine. _

I crawl my way out of the warmth and into the cold open room, padding to the dresser, I picked up the syringe case they'd put in my pocket. I opened it up and uncorked the lid on one of the tiny vials of green liquid and screwed into the syringe pen. I squeeze out a small amount to remove bubbles.

I turn from the dresser to the vanity across from it, lifting my chin, I slide the needle into my neck and empty the syringe into where I knew my carotid artery laid, and get an instant jolt. The steroid spreads through my body instantly like a match in a river of gasoline.

Replacing the syringe in the case and putting the empty vial in a sterile packet, I look in the mirror once more. My hair had grown long in the prison, and underneath I knew there were dreadlocks forming for lack of a hairbrush. _I should find someone to lock the rest for me._ I think briefly. My hair had always been thick and hard to handle. With the steroid in my blood my eyes looked awake, alert, and like I hadn't been asleep just minutes before. I veins were visibly pumping with the juice and I felt on top of the world.

_I have a mirror. I have a bed. And I have woken up without a single goddamn armed man in the building. I think this could be good._ And for the first time in a long time, I watch my face split into a complete smile, teeth and all.

.

_Josie POV_

We heard Ezra get up about the same time Steve and I did. Early morning paperwork was the worst part of being a Real Estate agent, lots of offers, lots of banks, and lots of young couples who don't understand finances. And it all had to be done fast and whenever we have time, because the NSC could call us whenever they like.

I hop up and dress quickly, intent on making a lush breakfast for the newest member of the family. As I leave the bedroom I hear Steve's sluggish ass rolling itself out of the bed. _His arms are strong, but with the willpower of a gnat. _I giggle to myself, thinking of when I met the lazy ass in high school for the first time.

Will struts his way downstairs at 7:45 as I finish with the pancakes, followed lazily by Ezra a few moments later, looking far more awake than my own son. _The steroid. _

I smile at the two of them as Will takes a seat at the table, waiting to be served. Ezra, instead of following suit picks a plate up off the table and comes to me in the kitchen.

"Good morning!" I grin at her and smile. "Help yourself, hot pancakes are in the oven keeping warm. And help yourself out of the frying pan too!"

"Thank you." She says, and looks me directly in the eye. There's an excitement behind them, like holding a dog back after throwing its favorite toy for it. Behind her eyes there is power and energy that has had no outlet for over a year since her incarceration.

I open the oven and she darts her hand in, grabbing up two pancakes and loads the rest of her plate with bacon. "Thank you for making this."

"Mom always makes breakfast for us in the morning!" Will pipes. Still sitting patiently. Ezra's head shot around at him.

"Then why don't you come get some instead of sitting there like a puppy that can't do anything for itself." She says calmly, training her gaze directly on Will's, leaving Will and I stunned.

.

_Will POV_

Her words caught me off guard. How dare she say something like that about me, I can do whatever I need on my own. My mother gives me a pointed look from behind Ezra, giving me something else to look at other than her eyes. Her eyes weigh heavy on my own as she barely blinks.

My mom tilts her head at me, beckoning me to get up and get some food. I swallow my pride and do so.

"You're right. Thanks for breakfast mom." I turn to Ezra, who's eyes were turned instead toward the table now where she was headed "I promise I'm not totally useless." I try to smile, she only turns toward me briefly.

Layla shows up only five minutes later and grabs herself an apple and gives me a kiss on the cheek. Planting herself down next to me in her radiancy.

"Good morning! Brrr, it's so cold out!" Layla gives a little shiver and directs the comment at Ezra, who looks up from her food for the first time since sitting down. A lazy grin comes to her face this time.

"Yeah, if it's as cold outside as it was in my room this morning, I don't doubt it, I'm just glad I'm not sleeping in it anymore." There doesn't seem to be any sarcasm in her voice, so Layla smiles back.

"So are you starting school today?"

"I actually was thinking I was going for new clothes today, with Josie." She looks over at my mom, who had taken a seat with her own breakfast next to Ezra, across from me. My mom nods, her mouth full of pancake, and Ezra half-smiles again.

"Oh okay, so what do you do?" Layla asks.

"Do?" Ezra raises her eyebrow.

"Like, what's your power, if you're going to sky high you must have one!"

"It's not really powers. This… stuff… I've taken since I was really small makes be better at stuff. The doctors at the prison said it has made my hyperkinetic over time, and they think that I'll stay that way even if I stop taking it. It also makes me stong, powers up my metabolism, and makes me just a little more super than human." Layla cocks her head and pipes up.

"Sounds like a power to me!"

"I suppose" Ezra shrugs "The doctors say it's not really a superpower because its triggered by the drug, and isn't neutralized by your power thingies in the prison, it's purely scientific, they told me that genetically I'm a genius or something and my genes are strong to begin with, because the drug doesn't kill me, from my father I guess."

Layla looks at me and smiles, seeming satisfied before smiling back at Ezra.

I finish up my breakfast by 8:20 and deposit my plate in the sink. My mother snaps at me and I move it to the dishwasher.

Layla and I leave my mother and Ezra together in the kitchen and head out to school.

**HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED.**

**ONCE AGAIN, PM OR REVIEW TO GIMME ANY FEEDBACK, (CONSTRUCTIVE I HOPE!) **

**Gimme a heads up on whatever seems Mary-Sue-ey and tell me what you think of my Will and Layla. Especially that I want to know that I'm doing them a sort of justice and not making either of them a bitch.**

**Next chapter will be quality bonding time with Josie and Ezra!**


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